📚 Influences on the Size and Composition of the Labour Force | 影响劳动力规模与构成的因素
The labour force is a key supply-side concept in economics. It refers to all people of working age who are either in employment or actively seeking work. Economists distinguish the labour force from the total population because not everyone of working age participates. Understanding what changes its size and composition helps explain potential output, wage pressures, tax revenue and long-run growth. Cambridge A-Level Economics frequently examines these influences through demographic, institutional, social and policy lenses.
劳动力是经济学中一个关键的供给侧概念。它指所有处于工作年龄并且已经就业或正在积极寻找工作的人。经济学家将劳动力与总人口区分开来，因为并非所有工作年龄人口都参与劳动。理解哪些因素改变劳动力的规模与构成，有助于解释潜在产出、工资压力、税收收入与长期增长。剑桥 A-Level 经济学常从人口、制度、社会与政策视角考查这些影响。
1. Defining the Labour Force | 劳动力的定义
The labour force comprises the employed plus the unemployed who are actively seeking work. It excludes full-time students, retirees, discouraged workers and those doing unpaid domestic work. The size of the labour force therefore depends on both the working-age population and the labour force participation rate.
劳动力包括就业者以及正在积极寻找工作的失业者。它不包括全日制学生、退休人员、丧失信心的劳动者以及从事无酬家务劳动的人。因此，劳动力规模既取决于工作年龄人口，也取决于劳动参与率。
An increase in the labour force raises the economy’s productive capacity. However, if new entrants are low-skilled or enter sectors with weak demand, measured unemployment may rise in the short run.
劳动力增加会提高经济的生产能力。然而，如果新增劳动力技能较低或进入需求疲软的部门，短期内统计失业率可能上升。
2. Population Size and Age Structure | 人口规模与年龄结构
A larger working-age population, often defined as those aged 15 to 64, creates a larger potential labour force. Birth rates, death rates and life expectancy determine the age structure over time.
较大的工作年龄人口（通常定义为 15 至 64 岁）会形成更大的潜在劳动力。出生率、死亡率和预期寿命长期决定年龄结构。
Countries with a ‘youth bulge’ may see rapid labour force growth as many young people enter at once. In contrast, ageing populations shrink the share of working-age people unless participation rates rise among older workers.
出现 ‘青年潮’ 的国家可能因大量年轻人同时进入市场而经历劳动力快速增长。相反，老龄化人口会缩小工作年龄人口占比，除非年长劳动者的参与率上升。
A falling birth rate can ease pressure on childcare and schooling, but it eventually reduces the number of new labour market entrants and may create future labour shortages.
出生率下降可以减轻托儿和就学压力，但最终会减少新进入劳动力市场的人数，并可能造成未来的劳动力短缺。
3. Net Migration | 净移民
Net inward migration directly adds to the labour force, especially when migrants are of working age. Immigration can fill shortages in construction, agriculture, healthcare and technology, changing both the size and the skill mix.
净流入移民直接增加劳动力，尤其是当移民处于工作年龄时。移民可以填补建筑、农业、医疗和技术领域的短缺，既改变规模也改变技能结构。
Emigration of young or skilled workers, sometimes called ‘brain drain’, reduces the domestic labour force and can lower productivity if human capital is lost. The net effect depends on the age, education and labour market attachment of migrants.
年轻或高技能劳动者移出（有时称为 ‘人才外流’）会减少国内劳动力，如果人力资本流失还可能降低生产率。净效应取决于移民的年龄、教育水平以及劳动力市场参与度。
Migration also alters the composition of the labour force by gender, language and regional distribution, because migrants often settle in urban areas and in specific industries.
移民还会按性别、语言和地区分布改变劳动力构成，因为移民通常定居在城市地区和特定行业。
4. Labour Force Participation Rate and Retirement Age | 劳动参与率与退休年龄
The participation rate is the proportion of the working-age population that is economically active. It is influenced by the statutory school-leaving age, the state pension age, private pension incentives, health, disability and cultural expectations.
参与率是指工作年龄人口中从事经济活动的人口比例。它受法定离校年龄、国家养老金领取年龄、私人养老金激励、健康、残障以及文化预期的影响。
Raising the retirement age tends to enlarge the labour force and increase the share of older workers. Reducing early retirement benefits or making pensions actuarially fair can also keep experienced workers in employment longer.
提高退休年龄往往扩大劳动力并增加年长劳动者的占比。削减提前退休福利或使养老金精算公平，也可以让有经验的劳动者工作更久。
Higher participation rates among women and older workers can offset a shrinking youth cohort, making the labour force larger without any change in total population.
女性和年长劳动者参与率的提高可以抵消青年群体的缩小，使劳动力在总人口不变的情况下变得更大。
5. Education, Training and Human Capital | 教育、培训与人力资本
Education and vocational training change the composition of the labour force by increasing the supply of skilled workers. Higher human capital improves occupational mobility and matches labour to more productive jobs.
教育与职业培训通过增加高技能劳动者供给来改变劳动力构成。更高的人力资本改善职业流动性，并使劳动力与生产率更高的岗位相匹配。
Underinvestment in skills can leave a country with a large but low-productivity labour force. Conversely, expanding higher education without corresponding demand for graduates may lead to over-qualification and graduate unemployment.
技能投资不足可能使一国拥有庞大但低生产率的劳动力。相反，在毕业生需求未相应增加的情况下扩大高等教育，可能导致资历过高和毕业生失业。
Apprenticeships, retraining programmes and lifelong learning help workers move from declining sectors to expanding ones, reducing structural unemployment and reshaping the occupational mix.
学徒制、再培训计划和终身学习帮助劳动者从衰退部门转向扩张部门，减少结构性失业并重塑职业结构。
6. Female Labour Force Participation | 女性劳动参与
Female labour force participation has risen in many economies due to improved access to education, changing social norms, smaller family sizes, labour-saving household technology and anti-discrimination laws.
许多经济体中女性劳动参与率上升，原因包括教育机会改善、社会规范变化、家庭规模缩小、节省家务劳动的技术以及反歧视法律。
Childcare availability and cost are strong influences. Subsidised or employer-provided childcare allows more mothers to remain in or return to the labour force, often in part-time or flexible roles.
托儿服务的可获得性和成本有很强的影响。有补贴或雇主提供的托儿服务使更多母亲能留在或重返劳动力市场，通常从事兼职或灵活岗位。
Equal pay and parental leave policies also affect the gender composition of the labour force. Shared parental leave can increase male participation in caring roles and reduce career interruptions for women.
同工同酬和育儿假政策也影响劳动力的性别构成。共享育儿假可以增加男性在照护角色中的参与，并减少女性的职业中断。
7. The Economic Cycle | 经济周期
In a recession, some unemployed workers stop searching and leave the labour force. This ‘discouraged worker effect’ reduces the measured size of the labour force and can make the unemployment rate look lower than underlying conditions suggest.
在衰退中，一些失业者停止寻找工作并退出劳动力。这种 ‘沮丧劳动者效应’ 会缩小劳动力的统计规模，并可能使失业率看起来低于实际经济状况。
There is also an ‘added worker effect’: when a primary earner loses income, other household members may enter the labour force, partly offsetting the fall. The net effect varies with benefit systems and family structure.
还存在 ‘附加劳动者效应’：当主要收入者失去收入时，其他家庭成员可能进入劳动力市场，部分抵消下降。净效应因福利制度和家庭结构而异。
During booms, higher wages and plentiful vacancies draw in students, retirees and previously inactive individuals, temporarily expanding the labour force and changing its composition toward less experienced workers.
在繁荣期，更高的工资和充足的职位空缺吸引学生、退休人员和先前不活跃的人进入市场，暂时扩大劳动力并使其构成转向经验较少的劳动者。
8. Technological Change | 技术变革
Automation and artificial intelligence reduce demand for routine manual and clerical labour, shrinking certain segments of the labour force or shifting them into unemployment. At the same time, technology creates demand for digital, technical and interpersonal skills, changing the composition.
自动化和人工智能减少了对常规体力和文职劳动的需求，缩小某些劳动力群体或使其转为失业。与此同时，技术创造了对数字、技术和人际技能的需求，改变了构成。
The rise of platform work and remote work has encouraged more flexible participation, including among students, carers and semi-retired individuals, but it also creates questions about job quality and labour force measurement.
平台工作和远程工作的兴起鼓励了更灵活的参与，包括学生、照护者和半退休人员，但它也带来关于工作质量和劳动力统计的问题。
Technology can raise participation by reducing physical barriers to work, allowing people with disabilities or caring responsibilities to work from home and join the labour force.
技术可以通过减少工作的身体障碍来提高参与率，使残障人士或有照护责任的人能够在家工作并加入劳动力。
9. Government Policy and Regulation | 政府政策与监管
Governments influence the labour force through education funding, the school-leaving age, the pension age, childcare subsidies, income tax and welfare benefits. Higher net replacement rates from benefits can reduce the incentive to seek work, while lower taxes on earnings can increase it.
政府通过教育经费、离校年龄、养老金年龄、托儿补贴、所得税和福利金影响劳动力。较高的福利净替代率可能降低求职激励，而较低的劳动所得税可能提高激励。
Immigration policy, minimum wage laws, employment protection and health-and-safety regulation also shape both the number of participants and the types of jobs available. Policy choices therefore alter the labour force both on the supply side and in recorded employment.
移民政策、最低工资法、就业保护以及健康与安全监管也会影响参与人数和可用工作类型。因此，政策选择既从供给侧改变劳动力，也改变统计中的就业。
Active labour market policies such as job-search assistance, training subsidies and public employment services can raise participation and improve the match between workers and vacancies.
积极的劳动力市场政策，如求职帮助、培训补贴和公共就业服务，可以提高参与率并改善劳动者与职位空缺之间的匹配。
10. Sectoral and Occupational Composition | 部门与职业构成
Economic development typically shifts labour from agriculture to manufacturing and then to services. This structural change alters the composition of the labour force by sector, skill intensity and contract type.
经济发展通常使劳动力从农业转向制造业，再转向服务业。这种结构变迁按部门、技能密集度和合同类型改变劳动力构成。
Deindustrialisation in advanced economies has reduced full-time blue-collar jobs and increased part-time, temporary and self-employed work. The result is a more diverse labour force in terms of gender, age, skills and hours.
发达经济体的去工业化减少了全职蓝领岗位，增加了兼职、临时和自雇工作。结果是劳动力在性别、年龄、技能和工时方面更加多样。
The growth of the service sector has increased demand for interpersonal and analytical skills, while the share of workers in primary and secondary industries has declined in many high-income countries.
服务业的增长增加了对人际交往和分析技能的需求，而在许多高收入国家，第一产业和第二产业劳动者的占比已经下降。
11. Health and Life Expectancy | 健康与预期寿命
Better public health and longer healthy life expectancy increase the effective working-age population. Lower morbidity means fewer working days lost and higher participation among older age groups.
更好的公共卫生和更长的健康预期寿命增加了有效工作年龄人口。发病率的降低意味着损失的工作日更少，年长年龄组的参与率更高。
Poor nutrition, disease burdens and inadequate healthcare can shrink the labour force, reduce productivity and skew its composition toward lower-skilled, physically demanding informal work.
营养不良、疾病负担和医疗不足会缩小劳动力、降低生产率，并使劳动力构成偏向低技能、体力消耗大的非正规工作。
Mental health conditions and workplace stress also affect participation, particularly among younger workers and those in insecure employment, leading to exits from the labour force if support is weak.
心理健康问题和工作压力也会影响参与率，尤其是在年轻劳动者和就业不稳定人群中，如果支持不足，可能导致他们退出劳动力。
12. Globalisation and International Competition | 全球化与国际竞争
Globalisation allows firms to relocate labour-intensive production, changing the domestic labour force composition away from manufacturing toward tradable services and knowledge-intensive sectors.
全球化使企业可以转移劳动密集型生产，使国内劳动力构成从制造业转向可贸易服务和知识密集型部门。
International competition also encourages upskilling, but it can displace workers in exposed industries, altering the industrial and regional balance of the labour force.
国际竞争也鼓励提升技能，但它可能替代暴露行业中的劳动者，改变劳动力的产业和区域平衡。
Global supply chains and foreign direct investment can increase demand for logistics, management and technical workers, while reducing demand for low-skill assembly jobs in high-wage economies.
全球供应链和外国直接投资可以增加对物流、管理和技术劳动者的需求，同时减少高工资经济体对低技能组装岗位的需求。
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